There is Confusion

Fauset, Jessie R. "There Is Confusion." The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader. Ed. David L. Lewis. New York: Viking Penguin, 1994. 340-48. Print.

This reading has one of my favorite lines in this compilation so far, not to mention one of the most reasonable and level-headed notions. It’s towards the beginning, when the dying Phillip says: “We must learn to look out for life first, then color and limitations. … I shouldn’t have allowed [my race] to make me forget love.” What’s pretty amazing about this story is that the main character, Peter, actually decides to live by these words and transcend racism. And, really, I believe that many black men are just as racist as their white counterparts. Hate because of race, regardless of who started it, is racism, pure and simple. The black man who hates whites because they are white is just as guilty as the white man who hates blacks. That’s why I like this quote so much; it forgoes the sense of “we must fight everyone and everything!” that all of our other readings have given off and gets to a deeper root of life – to be happy. Fighting for your life at all turns is not the kind of life anyone needs or wants to live, even if it means ignoring your dignity and moving on. As a young person, I’m more than familiar with the need to assert yourself when someone questions you… but really, sometimes you need to get over it and move on. That’s the message Phillip is trying to get at here.